Wil Andruschak
You’re a lawyer and a metal show promoter?
I guess so. I have a history in the metal industry.
You’re putting on shows at The Distillery?
Yeah I do this just for fun because I’ve been in the scene for so many years and make a nice living and have for years in the international metal industry. So I guess my way of giving it back is to support bringing international acts into town.
Metal is a diverse genre. What kind of acts are you bringing in?
More on the extreme metal side of things. So whatever the agencies approach me with that I think would be fun to do and a lot of the bands I already know so I just say “Yeah that’s great that would be fun let’s bring it in.”
That’s just more of a hobby it’s not a second full-time job?
No not at all. In fact I was reluctant to do anything local. I have the money to be able to do this kind of thing so it’s kind of in a way throwing a party where I’m not really concerned whether I lose or I make money from it. A lot of profits I’m just giving to charity anyway.
What kind of law do you practise?
I’m a professor at Mount Royal in the justice studies department and I practise entertainment law.
Is teaching your full-time job?
I’m split between the two. I’m only having to teach a couple of days a week which is great. And the rest is devoted to my practice.
You mentioned a charity — tell me about that.
Well I actually run a brand which is a band that no longer exists called Death. They were the creators of the death metal genre. The leader of the band Chuck died 10 years ago this December of brain cancer. I was their manager during the years of the band. One of the things we do is we always direct people if they want to do tribute gigs and this sort of thing to Chuck. And we always direct them to a particular charity of choice for us and that is the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
What does Sweet Relief do?
Sweet Relief is a charity based in Huntington Beach Calif. that aids U.S. musicians who find themselves without medical insurance.
Is it a fairly large operation?
It’s a big charity with lots of celebrity endorsements and that kind of thing. The reason that we got involved in that is that when Chuck was diagnosed with cancer he had to sell everything in order to fund his cancer treatment which ended up being in vain anyway. He lost his homes and his cars and everything because he didn’t have any insurance or any means of dealing with the million-plus in medical expenses.
I assume this is to support someone like Chuck as opposed to someone like Madonna.
Exactly. It’s for people who don’t have the wherewithal to be able to take care of their expenses when they’re faced with chronic illness and that sort of thing.
This is the charity that you donate all your proceeds to?
Yup. After expenses and the cost of bringing the acts and that kind of thing.
You mentioned you didn’t want to do local promotions. Does that mean you’re doing outside stuff as well?
Well the fact that I’m in the metal world I was able to keep under a bushel so to speak that I lived in Calgary. But two years ago a band that I’m their lawyer — they’re called Cynic from Los Angeles — they were the headliners of this festival/business conference called Noctis and it was through meeting people at this event that I suddenly realized there was a burgeoning metal scene in town. Up to that point two years ago I had no idea. I let people know that I lived here obviously. When that got around people started asking me favours or you know “could you listen to my band? Could you get us a record deal?” That kind of thing. And I thought you know “why the hell am I keeping it a secret that I live here?” This is my hometown I’ve only lived back here for six years prior to that I spent my entire adult life living away from here.
Were you surprised when you got back about how much it had changed?
Yeah. I came back here briefly in the ’90s for law school. I’d had a music career as a manager and then took a break from that in order to go to law school and came back to Calgary for those three years and then left again. I didn’t really pay any attention when I got back here. I kind of kept the metal thing on the side and hoped that no one would put two and two together. A few of my students had Googled me and saw that I had this shadowy metal life and then sort of brought it to my attention. I said “yeah I used to be the assistant manager of Mötley Crüe that’s me blah blah blah.” And so I thought: why hide it? So now I’m actively assisting as many bands as I can locally. Part of that is promoting shows is just fun.
Death Mötley Crüe? What other big bands have you worked with?
I’d rather not say. As far as legal clients or whatever I work with a lot of bands in the extreme side of metal nowadays. On the more local scene I represent the band Divinity who are international recording artists in their own right as well as Into Eternity who are based in Regina; another band that is maybe unknown in the mainstream but quite well known internationally in extreme metal.
What does an entertainment lawyer do exactly?
Well everything in relation to contracts and intellectual property.
Being in that business I guess you don’t really have to hide who you are like a corporate oil and gas lawyer.
Yeah I mean I secretly listen to The Smiths and The Church. But I have a complete understanding of the metal genre. I moved to L.A. when I was 18 and I’ve been working in hard rock and heavy metal for my whole music career. So that’s 30 years ago. Within that time I’m completely adept at understanding and dealing with the metal crowd. At the same time I can easily swim within the law circles without any problems. But in my circumstance I’m not somebody that ever has to wear a shirt and tie ever.
